I believe I wrote this on the 3rd anniversary of 9-11, when I saw something that reminded me of the comments by Jerry Falwell and anti-Falwell's right after it all went down. Part 1 addresses his comments, part 2 the problem of pain and corporate responsibility for evil in the world (corporate meaning all of us, not Wal-Mart)
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Shortly after the disaster of September 11th, Jerry Falwell, the infamous televangelist, preacher, and founder of Liberty University, gave his comments on who was really at fault for the terrorist attack.
"The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say: you helped this happen."
It didn't take long before Mr. Falwell came under fire for his accusations. Despite an apology in which he said that he really only attributed blame to the terrorists (obviously not the whole truth) his words have echoed as another reminder of the (insert adjective here, such as intolerance, bigotry, hate, etc...) of the conservative evangelical Christian movement, and often, of Christians in general. When someone comes out and says something like he did, especially under the circumstances, I really don't expect anything less from the people who have been put on the same level with terrorists and murderers.
Rather than wax poetic on Jerry Falwell's history in the public eye, I would like to explore the verity of his statement. Obviously, taken literally, it is not true. It's not an opinion, it's just wrong. To my knowledge, not only have we not found WMDs, but we've found no evidence that the ACLU trained terrorists, that gays taught these dudes how to fly planes, or that abortionists deliberately ended the life of those people who were destined to beef up flight security. In effect though, Falwell said, "this happened in part because you did these things."
This word because is crucial. All of this "because" analyzation I owe to C.S. Lewis and his book, Miracles. There are two uses of the words because. First, like used before, there is a cause-and-effect usage. For example, Grandpa slept late today because he is ill. The second usage is something Lewis called Ground and Consequent. The best explanation is an example: "Julie must be sick, because she slept so late today." There is not a direct relationship. There is an inference that "A means B" rather than "A leads to B." Mr. Falwell used the latter, saying that the actions of some had no choice but to result in the events of 9/11.
You can probably guess where I'm going next. Falwell, if questioned with his hand on the Bible, may admit to a Ground and Consequent belief, i.e. that "secularization is an unwelcome trend in America because of September 11." This is an awkward wording, but, in other words, the belief that secularization is bad, or 'A', is confirmed by the occurrence of 9/11, or 'B'. Before you go and get upset, I would like to point out that this kind of logic is not just used by Christians. For years, atheists have said, "There is no god because there is evil," in other words, because all this bad stuff is going on, how can there be a god?? This is commonly referred to as "the problem of pain" and studied as "theodicy."
Under this kind of wording, I began to agree with Mr. Falwell. Yes, because there is so much evil in the world, how can we expect that something like 9/11 would never happen?!? In fact, everyday in Africa, families are ripped apart by the 9/11 sized tragedy of AIDS. Daily. Yes, unhealthy behaviors are the direct cause of the epidemic, just as terrorists are the direct cause of attacks. But also are the evils of selfishness, lust, and corrupt government magnified in the outbreak of the disease. Similarly, 9/11 or other bad events merely reflect the fallen state of the world. Not only a fallen state in which we do not help our fellow man or there are wars, but a spiritual depravity. I will get back to this momentarily after I finish with Falwell.
Jerry Falwell's problem is that he was far too inclusive in his accusation, not that he was completely incorrect. Luke 13:1-5: "Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them -- do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no!"
Verse 4, starting with "or those eighteen..." eerily parallels the September 11th attacks. The Old Testament exposes a Jewish belief that bad events were often due to someone's sin. Jews at the time may have actually thought that those who would die in a catastrophe deserved it for some reason that the rest of them did not. Jesus wished to get rid of this hypocrisy by using this example. In actuality, those who happened to be in the tower at the time, or those whose blood was tampered with after their death had absolutely no control over the timing of those circumstances. They had sinned, of course, but so had their neighbors! I am sure that Jerry Falwell could quote Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." If he truly kept this in mind, then he would have attributed the blame equally. Each and every human being has contributed, continues to contribute, or will contribute to the sins of the world, whether in the secular or spiritual sense; most likely both. Because I, Chris, have sinned, because I mistreated a friend last year, because I was selfish with money, and so many other things, unfortunate, regrettable consequences have resulted. Because I have not always loved every person I've met, there is hate, and because there is hate, things like 9/11 are bound to happen. This would've been a far more effective thing for Mr. Falwell to say, and if he felt the need, only then would it have been more appropriate to begin including the sins of others...
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